In describing the embodiments of the invention, specific terminology is chosen for the sake of clarity. However, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the specific terms so selected and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.
Several agrochemical agents are being used at high dosages for long periods of time as fertilizers and for countering pests and diseases. These chemical agents are a constant burden on the environment as they contaminate the soil, water, turf, and other vegetation. In addition to countering pests and diseases, they can be toxic to a host of other organisms including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-target plants. Most of the agrochemical agents secrete into soils and groundwater which can end up in drinking water also. The sprays can drift and pollute the air. Further nutrient losses are also a cause for concern due to the economics, as well as due to environmental reasons.
One of the key challenges today is deteriorating soil health. Extensive use of soil fertilizers and pesticides has reduced organic and microbial matter of the soil. Plants are unable to uptake nutrients applied to the soil. Biological materials such as algae, fungi and bacteria are useful alternatives to chemical agents for improvement and/or maintenance of soil nutrients. Algae are useful alternative to the chemical agents for improving the soil and plant health and also to control the pests. Few algal products have been known to be used as fertilizers and plant nutrients in order to decrease the burden on the environment as well as on the health of farmers and consumers. However, their use needs to be optimized and their application needs to be improved in order to provide an economical result in terms of yield, plant growth, vitality and vigor to the farmer and also reduce the burden on the environment.
Prior art documents talk about incorporating algae as a coat over a core granule, but these granules cannot disperse or suspend well and cannot be applied effectively in drip or sprinkler irrigation, as they tend to block the nozzles and this poses a big application challenge in agriculture. Similar is the case with commercially available alga powders where they cannot be used in drip or sprinkler irrigation systems.
While microbial organisms are generally not viable under high shear, surprisingly the inventors have determined that despite of cells being lysed (as can be seen in FIG. 2), a water dispersible granules of the present invention comprising at least one algae and at least one agrochemically acceptable excipient, with a particle size of 0.1 microns to 60 microns demonstrates excellent field efficacy, for e.g. in the uptake of nutrients from the soil, in the yields and growth of the crops, provides greater prophylactic control over plant pathogenic disease. The water dispersible granules of the present invention also exhibit superior physical characteristics such as suspensibility, dispersibility, flowability and wettability. These superior characteristics of the product results in superior field efficacy without the need of using any chemical products such as urea. The compositions of the present invention also demonstrated superior performance under accelerated storage and also surprisingly be used in drip irrigation.